The next time the Doctor sees her, he is alone and half broken as a result of saving Amy and Rory.He lands the TARDIS and opens the door, only to be run over by her and all her magnificence.River Song shuts the door with a "Hello, Sweetie", and he asks where she needs to go this time.She laughs. "Oh, Doctor. I don't need to go anywhere. I was simply eager to begin our adventures like you promised me. But first, let's get married".Stammering, the Doctor accepts her on board as a semi-permanent addition (no one ever stays, not really, and he knows that this is the case for her- his past is her future). He really doesn't have the strength to question or fight her; he only has the strength to maybe accept that she can heal him.

The TARDIS hums with glee.

(&)

On the fourth night in, they make love, which he's going to assume is their first time from both perspectives, since he's only certain of what happens to her in his past now, since now everything is timey-wimey and he is just lost in the senselessness that is her and their situation.However, the Doctor is a curious man, so he can't help but ask."River, was this your first time?"She murmurs as she awakens from her state of half-sleep."No, it wasn't. There have been others, sweetie; surely you've had others too".And the Doctor finds it odd because she had always seemed predestined to love him and only him; but then again, a pretty, rebellious girl in Leadworth was a rarity, and she must have attracted lots of attention.

He remembers earlier that night when she came to him, telling him that he was broken, and to please, let her heal him.She pressed her lips to the Doctor's tenderly and with passion.The Doctor absentmindedly reaches his hands to his lips and wonders how she could have ever kissed someone else like the way she kissed him tonight.

"River. River."She mumbles quietly, which he takes as her assent to go ahead."Who was your first lover?"She chuckles softly, as if any noise would disturb the peace that has come over the TARDIS."His name was Danny Smith, if I remember correctly.""Such a generic name to be matched with such a magnificent person, don't you think?""Well, he was magnificent himself. Not only in that area, but every girl in the college had her eyes on him. I won that race, of course; I refused to let anyone else claim him as hers.""What happened to him?"Here River let out a huge roar. "He's married to a lovely man now. I guess he grew tired of all other women after dating me. There was only ever one man who could ever handle me, I suppose."And who's that?"She smacks him lightly, to insinuate his stupidity in that moment."You, sweetie. Let's go to sleep, shall we?"

The Doctor is about to drift off to sleep when he realizes he never got an answer to his question."River," he says, shaking her. "Was tonight our mutual first time?"She just murmurs:"Spoilers".

In other matters, I barely ship Eleven/River and was DEVASTATED by Amy and Rory's departure on Saturday night. I've got a little project planned for that, so stay tuned. Title credit goes to the Cold War Kids' song Skip the Charades.So, did this meet or exceed expectations? Or completely let them down? Let me know!

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